Gift Books for Gardeners

One of the most appreciated and timeless gifts for your gardening friends and family members is a book—one that they will keep close at hand and refer to in years to come. A good reference library will include some of the basics, as well as books that deal with specialty plants depending on the gardener's interests.

A couple of the most popular books among Master Gardeners are Bringing Nature Home and Nature's Best Hope by Douglas Tallamy, professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware. Tallamy's first book, Bringing Nature Home changed the way many gardeners looked at their gardens.  We needed to think beyond beautiful flowers and consider the needs of wildlife. Tallamy's seminal book validates the importance of native plants to sustain wildlife in your landscape. In 2020, Tallamy released Nature's Best Hope in which he encourages homeowners to continue to develop natural habitats that will preserve wildlife for future generations.

Knowledge of basic botany is an asset that will help any gardener better understand plants and help them make proper decisions as they maintain their landscape. Botany for Gardeners by Brian Capon, a retired botany professor, covers plant growth and development, reproduction, plant functions, and adaptations. Capon makes a complex subject easily understandable and enjoyable. The text includes numerous illustrations and color images.

Insects and plants go hand-in-hand, but are they harmful or beneficial? Garden Insects of North America by Colorado State University Extension Specialist, Whitney Cranshaw is designed to help gardeners easily identify insects based on the damage that you see on the plant. This indispensable guide covers insects and mites associated with fruits, vegetables, trees, shrubs, flowers, and turfgrass. The book includes more than 3,300 full-color photos and detailed descriptions of the insects.

For the beginning vegetable gardener, consider gifting them Starter Vegetable Gardens by Barbara Pleasant. Using concise and easily understandable explanations, Pleasant provides tips on starting an organic vegetable garden. She includes illustrated garden layouts and information on building healthy soil, planting, watering, and managing pests.

If you are looking for a gift book for the serious vegetable gardener, organic gardening pioneer Eliot Coleman's 30th-anniversary edition of The New Organic Grower is a classic. First published in 1989, the newly revised third edition provides the simplest and most sustainable methods for producing organic vegetables. From the preface of the first edition,

" ...this book is written for those with a small-farm dream. But it also has a wealth of ideas to offer the serious home gardener.  The efficient, professional techniques described here are basically scale-neutral and can be used to make everyone's vegetable-growing efforts more productive and enjoyable."

The Manual of Woody Landscape Plants by Michael Dirr, a professor of horticulture at the University of Georgia, is a must-have reference for advanced gardeners. The manual includes in-depth descriptions for each plant along with pen and ink drawings of the leaves and stems. Considered by many to be the "bible" of woody plants, this is an excellent reference for homeowners to consult when selecting and siting trees and shrubs in their landscape. For intermediate and beginning gardeners, consider purchasing  Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs which is illustrated with color photographs showing both the habit and close-ups of plant characteristics. Brief cultural information is provided for the 500-plus species.

Another plant "bible" is the newly released fourth edition of Herbaceous Perennial Plants: A Treatise on Their Identification, Culture, and Garden Attributes by Allan Armitage, horticulture professor at the University of Georgia. First published 31 years ago, the book was considered the best resource for perennials in the field of horticulture. This must-have reference includes pronunciation guides, more than 300 color photos, easy-to-read descriptions, and information on natives, invasives, and cultivar selections.

Weeds are inevitable in every garden and it is important to be able to identify them in all stages of growth for best management and control. Weeds of the Northeast by Uva, Neal, and DiTomaso includes a dichotomous key for all of the species covered in the manual, and full-color photos and drawings to provide further information for easy identification.

For the indoor gardener, present them with a copy of What's Wrong with My Houseplant? by David Deardorff and Kathryn Wadsworth. The guide begins with a how-to chapter on growing healthy plants, followed by 148 plant profiles. The book also includes a chapter on identifying common insect, disease, and cultural problems and how to manage them with organic solutions.

And finally, for a comprehensive reference of over 20 gardening subjects including plant diseases, vegetables, perennials, and landscape design surprise your favorite gardener with the newly updated Penn State Extension Master Gardener Manual. Priced at $75, the exhaustive resource should find a permanent place in every gardener's library.